UK new car market records strongest growth in 2023 since pandemic

LONDON (ICIS)–The UK’s new car market recorded its strongest year-on-year growth in 2023 since the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the country’s automotive trade group on Friday.

New registrations grew by almost 18% from the previous year as a strong December marked the 17th month of consecutive growth.

Source: SMMT

Growth was driven entirely by fleet investment as 2022’s supply constraints faded and helped fulfil pent-up demand, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said.

“While the overall new car market remains 17.7% below pre-pandemic levels, the surge in uptake compared with the previous year saw the value of new car sales jump more than £10bn to around £70bn,” the industry group said in a statement.

In 2019, before the pandemic widely struck, there were 2,311,140 new car registrations compared to 1,903,054 in 2023.

Battery electric vehicle (BEV) uptake reached a record volume in 2023, with more BEVs registered than in 2020 and 2021 combined, the SMMT added.

The automotive industry is a major end-user of chemicals, consuming significant volumes of plastics, resins, rubber, and paints.